Tories create team to go after tax cheats and pour $30 million into the cause

OTTAWA – The Conservatives are beefing up the tools used to go after tax cheats.

They’re creating a dedicated team to pinpoint tax evaders and pouring $30 million over the next five years into the cause.

Half of this is money announced in the March budget, the other half is being reallocated from elsewhere within the Canada Revenue Agency.

Among other things, the money will be used to build a system allowing CRA to get reports from financial institutions on international transfers over $10,000.

Revenue Minister Gail Shea says people who hide money overseas and get out of paying taxes put an unfair burden on taxpayers.

It’s unclear how much money is actually lost each year to tax evasion; independent estimates indicate Canada could be losing up to $7.8 billion annually in tax revenue.